The program of the opening week is complete!

What is the role of documentary in these turbulent times?

With this question in mind, filmmakers, artists and students were asked to curate a day-long program featuring their own films, those of their inspirations and peers, talks, performances, and other events. The result is a kaleidoscopic program consisting of short film selections – from classic to niche and experimental – an exhibition featuring Virtual Reality works, classic and recent films, music, art, and more.

Celebrated documentary filmmaker Ester Gould kicks off the event on March 16. She explores research as the core of the creative process and as a unique way of seeing. She has selected a number of films from filmmakers who are an inspiration to her in that regards, including an early work by Martin Scorsese.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Vincent Monnikendam will take the stage as the second filmmaker on March 17. His most famous film, "Mother Dao, the Turtle-like," consists entirely of archival material, but during his program for the opening, the celebrated filmmaker primarily wants to showcase films by creators who have "come very close to people and experiences." Part of his curated program includes a Filmmaker Talk with him, where he will delve deeper into four aspects of his distinctive approach: empathy, observation, composition, and rhythm.

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Tuesday, March 19, is curated by the youth collective Jong Fruit. This group consists of six young people between the ages of 14 and 26 with a great passion for film. Over the past few weeks, they have attended a film programming workshop by the IDFA team and selected their favourites from thirty recent short documentaries. From racism to colonialism – the selection touches on the major themes of our time.

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Wednesday, March 20, marks the day of Virtual Reality artist Ali Eslami. This artist is known for the way he creates worlds that feel otherworldly and play with your perception of time and space. In his universe, the boundaries between reality and fictional worlds seamlessly blur. For this day, he has curated a program of short films and VR works about the many areas on Earth affected by wars and what we do and do not know about them.

For more information and tickets, click here.

On Friday, March 22, emerging director Festus Toll will curate a program on the theme 'Unmasked'. In his recent film "The Black Pete Files," he exposes the racist undertones of Black Pete. And with the restoration of "Mandabi" by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène and works by creators from various diasporas, he aims to amplify perspectives not often shown to a larger audience.

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Filmmaker Aliona van der Horst will conclude the event by curating a program around the theme of memory. From private to collective, from home movies to archival material: "I wanted to examine the theme from both a personal perspective and reflect on our collective memory of war imagery and the role that archives play in it. It is often said that when we remember something, we actually only remember the memory, and that each memory is recorded over the previous one. I am curious about the relationship between film and memories."

For more information and tickets, click here.